Introduction:
Structure of this website: Below you will find links to the individual subject areas
in structure of a FAQ area. (eg. Athlon XP Barton Mobile Mod, System Cooling)
 [Link to FAQ] ![[zum FAQ Bereich]](../buttons/dok-vsm.gif)
In the main area you will find general information on overclocking, step by step
details of the strategy about the BIOS and what you need to pay attention to.
Note: I am simply offering in this Guide my knowledge regarding overclocking.
Overclocking is on your own risk, I can not take resposibility for anything you
may wish to carry out !
You are entirely self responsible for any problems and damage as a result of
overclocking.
Ok, so you have now decided in favour of overclocking.
Firstly with this intention in mind it means getting to know your system, what kind of
hardware it contains, Mainboard manufacturer, memory manufacturer and type
and of course the AMD CPU and type.
If you are not familiar with the hardware please look at the Mainboard Handbook and
you can download the System Info Software ''Everest Home Edition''.
Using this software you can retrieve the necessary system information.
Even if Everest indicates the Motherboard manufacturer and type it is certainly
advisable to use the Motherboard handbook as your source of information.
The description of ''Features'' and ''Advanced Chipset Power Bios Features''
should be regarded as obligatory learning !
In it you will be able to see which Bios options are available for overclocking and
which steps I can choose to uprate the voltage.
A good nForce 2 Motherboard will offer the following BIOS options:
- Increase of CPU Front Side Bus [FSB], to the point of single steps
- Clock Ratio, CPU Multiplier modification
- Memory Frequency, a 100% or 1 to 1 adjustment for exact synchronous control
Overclocking of CPU Front Side Bus to Memory clock (RAM) FSB.
- Memory Timings ''user defined'' or ''expert'' mode for customising all individual
memory Latency value
- CPU Voltage Regulator = CPU vcore voltage
- Dimm Voltage Regulator = Memory vdimm voltage
- VDD Voltage Regulator =Mainboard Chipset voltage of the northbridge
Not all nForce2 Motherboards offer the VDD voltage option.
The option could be limited for example on some Elitegroup nForce 2 mainboards.
In short: An Elite Group nForce2 can only be used for overclocking only with
restrictions.
Whoever has the intention of operating the Motherboard over 400 FSB and wishes
to use the VDD option should pay attention to a good cooling of the Motherboard
Northbridge.
A good cooling means an active cooling of the nForce 400 Chipset in addition to a
reasonable terms PC Housing ventilation.
In my opinion a passive nForce 400 Chipset cooling is not suitable for overclocking
the Motherboard FSB over 400 and it should be replaced.
Now we know what Hardware we have, are familiar with the BIOS options for
overclocking and we have the Motherboard Handbook nearby.
We are ready for more hardware inormation, namely ''Cooling'' .
An american overclocker friend of mine once wrote ''cooling is everything''
Its not necessary to employ a CPU and Motherboard water cooling for the purpose of
overclocking but if you already have this then congratulations !
However However don't forget at least to run a ventilator at the back of the housing,
roughly at the same height as the CPU.
The Motherboard Elkos, Mosfets and Condensators also require cooling.
If you intend to overclock the Memory you should as well as having water cooling,
have a housing ventilator at the front. If the Memory is running too hot it will kill off
any attempt at overclocking.
The normal or first time Overclocker will probably rely on normal air cooling of his
system. There is nothing against this so long as its sufficient.
As a minimum there should be a good quality fan installed at the front and rear
housing.
Good quality fans are recognisable by the volume of air that they pass through
= Air Output. The fan rotation speed of these fans is udmost higher.
Overclockers should avoid silent ventilators with low rotation speeds.
We have already mentioned Motherboard Northbridge Cooling above.
What now remains is the CPU cooling and this is important when overclocking.
A decent Processor CPU Cooler should be installed, that means no silent fan and no
pure alumimium cooling body.
If you still have an AMD Boxed Cooler installed on the CPU, then its best to either
change it, or leave any overclocking alone.
A decent AMD Socket A CPU cooler is either an aluminium/copper combination or
made from pure copper. Some coolers possess additionaly so called ''Heatpipes''
which assist with the cooling. Heatpipes are however not a prerequsite.
CPU fans with their own temperature regulators are not recommended.
The temperature regulator will often not respond to the heat until the CPU has
already become unnecessarily hot.
Why is a good CPU Cooling needed and why is it so important ? 
- In the main when overclocking CPU power and heat loss will increase.
- A higher CPU timing and vcore voltage increase further this process.
- Overclocking will as a rule shortern the processor life.
- This life-shortening process can only be delayed by good cooling.
- More heat is produced by increasing the core voltage. The warmer the prossessor
is the more likely it is to run unstable, because the electrical resistance in the
core-prossessor increases.
Interesting link to this subject: calculation of the CPU power loss
The CPU Multipler often plays a role when overclocking.
The AMD Athlon CPUs for Socket A were delivered ''locked'' after production starting
in week 43 / 2003. This means that the CPU Multipler is not freely selectable.
The AMD Athlon CPUs for Socket A produced before week 43 / 2003 are "unlocked".
With these the CPU Multipler is freely selectable.
Likewise ''unlocked'' are the so named Mobile XP CPUs with the indentification XP-M
eg. XP-M2600+ for a mobile Athlon XP 2600+ processor.
The production week can be identified from the black type label on the AMD
Processor top side:
03 stands for year 2003 and 46 for the calender week of production.
You should ascertain whether the CPU is ''locked'' or ''unlocked'' before overclocking.
Many overclocking concepts are based on Multiplicator alterations.
The question as to what one can do about a locked CPU is covered in the "FAQ" area.
We should now have finished checking our configuration and have, where necessary
improved the cooling and choosen an overclocking concept which matches our
hardware. Now we can proceed with the actual overclocking.
A concept is no different to a plan as to how I will overclock, with the goal of the
highest clock speed, as an unknown number.
Highest clock speed is really an unknown quantity, because we don't know in
advance how much overclocking our Processor, Motherboard or Memory will allow.
Every CPU is from it's core different. How well one can overclock a CPU depends on
a quality handling of the core and the Waver attachment (CPU Core mount) and that
is usually variable.
The question that is always presented at the start is ''How far can I overclock ?''
Well you might not want to bother with the answer or you could ask your
Grandmother so she can take a look in her crystal ball ! ![[wink]](wink-smilie.gif)
How do I compile
an overclocking concept based on my hardware ?
Its best to plan ahead [see page 2
of the Overclocking Guide] |
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What do the BIOS
Options for overclocking look like?
Screenshots of BIOS settings |
|
What is a locked
or unlocked Processor CPU ?
Multipler lock on the AMD
Processor Socket A and what you can do about it |
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Will it be
possible to overclock my Memory [RAM] and will it
run afterwards
without errors ? |
|
After I have
attempted to overclock nothing runs. The PC
doesn't react,
doesn't start and I only have a blank screen.
What can I do ? |
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Some extent
modified custom BIOS versions for nForce 2
Motherboards
are on offer. What do they offer and are there
advantages ? |
|
nForce2 and 3 Base by
Polli
* Help & AMD
Overclocking *
nForce Mainbord 2 to 4 Information
Webpage
|
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